To say the leaders of the Hand were in crisis mode would be an understatement. While they could easily run everything and have done so for centuries, it didn't mean they had no crisis going on. The Beast and its temple disappeared from the face of the earth like it never existed. When more sacrifices were being brought to it a week ago, the person in charge discovered the temple missing.
Since no one was in charge of watching the temple, they had no idea what happened or when. What made matters worse was they dug up the area where the temple used to be and found nothing. The hidden chamber that used to be almost sixty feet underground was completely gone too.
Because of the temple and the Beast missing, all the upper management of the Hand was now gathered in Japan as they attempted to figure out what happened. It was rare for all the fingers to be in one place at the same time, but it wasn't unheard of.
Madame Gao was seated in the living room of a mansion hidden in the countryside of Japan, about thirty miles from the closest city. It was only a few miles away from where the temple used to be and was the staging area for the sacrifices. Now it acted as a temporary headquarters for the leaders of the Hand while they worked on solving the mystery of the Beast and the temple just disappearing.
As Gao and the other leaders were in the middle of a meeting they each suddenly felt the cold touch of metal against their necks and immediately stopped talking. A few moments later a man's voice carried throughout the room as he said, "I'm glad I have your undivided attention."
After a few moments a man stepped into view for Gao and a few others as he took a seat at one of the empty chairs around the table. He made a gesture with one hand before the blade was pulled away from Gao and the other's throats. He then smiled at everyone as he said, "Who knew getting rid of the Beast would make our job easier."
After Ezekiel spoke everyone in the room focused on him and after a moment Murakami asked, "What do you mean you got rid of the Beast?"
Ezekiel glanced at the man who spoke as he said, "He was banished back to his home dimension."
Murakami and a few others looked concerned as the rest of the group showed no emotion at all. After a few moments Gao asked, "Are you part of the Chaste?"
Ezekiel chuckled a little before he said, "No."
Most of the people seemed to relax a tiny bit at that news before Gao asked, "May I ask, what exactly your job is? Since it seems to be about us…"
"I'm here to take over and dismantle the Hand."
A scared, ebony skinned man with an accent slammed a fist on the table as he snarled, "Who do you think you are? Do you really think you can scare us with your little display? That it gives you some type of power over us?"
Ezekiel smiled in a predatory fashion as he said, "It did, or all of you wouldn't have stopped talking the moment I did it."
Gao and the others felt a pressure crash down on them which caused their breath to catch in their throats. Each of them started to shiver as fear overwhelmed them and Ezekiel said, "The only reason you aren't dead yet, is because some of you might be useful."
The fear and pressure disappeared just as quickly as it appeared and once Gao recovered she asked in a shaky voice, "What do you want us to do?"
Most people stayed focused on Ezekiel but a few others turned to look at Gao with hints of anger. Ezekiel studied Gao for a moment before he said, "Help me take over the Hand. While we could easily do it ourselves, I would prefer it if we did this with the least amount of bloodshed possible."
"And what exactly do we get out of this?" A woman asked.
Ezekiel turned to the woman who looked a lot like Sigourney Weaver as he said, "A stay of execution mostly. But maybe a chance to live if you're lucky."
Everyone had a mix of reactions to the news and one person slowly moved for a weapon they had hidden. Before the man could even grab it, he collapsed onto the table unconscious. Ezekiel glanced at everyone as he said, "Anyone else feel like reaching for their weapons?"
When no one responded Ezekiel let out a sigh as he said, "And here I thought you guys would be more fun… Then again you guys care more about immortality than anything else."
Ezekiel leaned back into his chair and after about a minute of no one talking he said, "Here's what is going to happen. Each of you will receive a group of helpers. You will help them with what they ask of you and you live longer. You do a good job and you can get rewarded…"
A deep fear settled over the group as Ezekiel said, "Try anything funny and you'll suffer a fate worse than death."
A moment later Ezekiel stopped flaring his aura and asked, "By the way, do you have any Chaste members held prisoner currently?"
All the members of the Hand turned to look at the ebony skinned man. He glanced at everyone else with a frown before he nodded as he said, "We caught two members a few days ago and are currently interrogating them for information."
"Where are they being held?"
"In one of our bases." The man said before Ezekiel gave him a flat unimpressed look. After a few moments he added, "It's located in Tokyo inside the Midtown Tower on the basement level."
Ezekiel lifted one arm and spun it in a circle as he said, "Go get them and bring them here, you have ten minutes."
"It would take at least an hour, even if I flew there by helicopter."
Ezekiel pointed behind the man as he said, "Use that and hurry up, clock is ticking."
Everyone was so focused on Ezekiel that even people who had line of sight on the portal didn't notice it until he pointed at it. A few people were shocked by its appearance while the ebony skinned man quickly jumped out of his seat and went through the portal without a word. After the man took off, Ezekiel pulled out his tablet and typed on it for a few moments before he put it away again.
For about five minutes everyone waited quietly before the man came back and helped carry two people who looked like they were half dead through the portal. Once inside the room, the portal snapped closed and Ezekiel opened a new portal. Out of the new portal arrived Tsunade, Shizune and a few other medics.
As they took the two Chaste members and laid them out on gurneys, Tsunade took care of one person as Shizune handled the other one. The group quickly left through the portal they arrived through without a word before it disappeared. Once they were gone Ezekiel pointed at a random person and said, "You're up first."
Ezekiel opened up a portal next to the man as he said, "Squad one, you're in charge of him."
A group of five masked people appeared out of nowhere and a few moments later they left with their target. Over the next half an hour the room slowly cleared out until there was only Ezekiel and Madame Gao left in the room. Ezekiel studied her for a moment before he asked, "Have you made contact with someone calling themselves the Kingpin?"
"I have not." The older Asian woman said as she shook her head.
Ezekiel thought about it for a moment before he asked, "What about the name Fisk?"
"I'm sorry, it doesn't ring a bell."
Ezekiel nodded slightly before he opened another portal as he said, "Squad twenty, you're up."
Another group of masked people appeared in the room and after a moment led Gao through a portal. After Ezekiel was left alone he stood up and exited the room to find a bunch of his team in the process of combining through the minds of all the Hand members that were present in the mansion.
Ezekiel moved towards Inoichi who just finished with another person as he asked, "How's it going so far?"
Inoichi pointed to a small number of people and said, "Not as bad as we thought. Only those ones are basically a lost cause, unless you need someone that will follow any order without question. No matter how heinous it might be."
"Sounds like Danzo would love them."
Inoichi nodded in agreement as he said, "It's even more impressive they did that without seals, chakra and mind techniques."
Ezekiel glanced around the area for a few moments before he asked, "How much longer?"
"A couple hours or so."
Ezekiel opened a portal to the medical research facility as he said, "Alright, call me once it's done and I'll portal your group back home."
After Ezekiel left he headed into the medical section of the base to find out the status of the two Chaste members. He doubted if they were actually important members, but they could help led him to other members, which is the only thing that mattered.
Ezekiel found Tsunade, without a henge on as she worked on her computer, he smiled at her as he asked, "Already finished?"
Tsunade glanced up for a moment before she shook her head and said, "Shizune and Sakura are supervising some of the less experienced medics after we stabilized them. They will need at least three weeks to a month before they are fully healed."
After a few moments of thought she said, "And it would be best if they were given treatment by a Yamanaka to help them with the torture they endured."
Ezekiel nodded before Tsunade said, "Give me a million dollars."
"Didn't I give you a million dollars last week?"
Tsunade crossed her arms under her chest which did almost nothing since she was in her new body and said, "It's gone and I need more."
"What do you mean it's gone?"
Tsunade huffed before she said, "The stupid casino stole it all."
Ezekiel rolled his eyes as he said, "That's literally what they are designed to do... You atleast gambled at Tony's right?"
"Of course! They give me the best comps. Plus they gave me a luxury suite to use for as long as I want."
"They only gave that to you because you've spent over ten million dollars there in the past few months." Ezekiel said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Tsunade became more serious as she said, "You gotta spend money to make money."
"That doesn't even make sense… Do you even know what that means?"
"If i don't gamble big, I won't win big." Tsunade said with a smile.
"You…" Ezekiel said before he let out a defeated sigh.
"So are you gonna give me some money or what?" Tsunade asked with her hands on her hips.
"Fine… It's not like it's my money anyway." Ezekiel said as he started to create a portal.
"In that case, double it!"
"Hell no! Go steal your own money!" Ezekiel said as he reached into the portal and started to pull out stacks of cash.
"But grandpa wants to go gamble too and he needs his own money! I don't wanna share!"
Ezekiel glanced at Tsunade for a moment before he pulled out a little over three million in hundred dollar bills. Once he finished and closed the portal he said, "I'll go find Hashirama and see if Tony wants to join us too. Then I'll portal us to his casino."
Tsunade smiled widely as she counted the money and started to stuff it all into a small duffle bag while she ignored Ezekiel completely. Ezekiel shook his head at her antics before he headed to the portal room and went off to collect a few people. He not only grabbed Hashirama, but also Madara who insisted on tagging along. Apparently he wanted to compete with Hashirama in who could win more money.
After they picked up Tsunade, Ezekiel portaled everyone to Tony's house where they found him talking with Pepper and Happy. Once Ezekiel explained what was going on, Pepper gave a cautious look at Tsunade before she asked to join. Happy also planned to come along since he was Tony's bodyguard, but asked if Ezekiel could pick up Anna to join them. Once their new larger group was ready, Ezekiel portaled everyone to Las Vegas.